What’s as American as baseball and apple pie? Well according to Slide Fire, a Texas-based company that sells firearms, it’s assault rifles.
As you can imagine, the people over at CeaseFirePA are none too pleased about this billboard popping up in the commonwealth’s capital city of Harrisburg.
“You know what drives me crazy? When other people try to tell us what it means to be American or what’s the real America,” said CeaseFirePA’s Executive Director Shira Goodman. “The whole point of our great country is that we define that for ourselves! And it’s worse when people wrap themselves in the flag and the founding fathers and our great constitution to tell us we’re not American enough.”
CeaseFirePA took aim at Lamar Advertising, the firm behind the billboard, for its decision to plant the sign in the middle of a city hurting from gun violence.
“This is offensive. There’s no other word. Billboards like this are popping up in cities across the U.S. and Lamar Advertising should be ashamed,” Goodman asserted. “And let’s be clear, this is not a First Amendment free speech issue. This is commercial speech, that the advertiser paid for, and that Lamar took money for. Unlike the government, private businesses like Lamar can and do make distinctions based on the content of speech.”
Lamar Advertising has been accused of using provocative and inappropriate images in their billboards before. For example, a pro-life ad placed in a SoHo neighborhood in New York City in 2011 drew negative attention. That billboard was removed.
For the record, firearms were first developed in China in the 14th century, which also was when the first known recipes for English apple pies were written. Baseball, however, at least in it’s modern form, was invented in the United States during the early to mid nineteenth century. And now you know…
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22 Responses
Very interesting information on this site. A group of friends of mine were just talking about this. Cool
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@Sean Ryan Sean…you totally missed the point about my ‘less government’ comment. Somalia has no “government” in the true sense of the word. It’s quite obvious they have complete kaos over there, and that’s what I meant. Since you have no brain and I do, I don’t need Google to understand that. 🙂 @Joe North Korea would be an improvement for you! 😉
Oh my… Will you people get a life. It’s a sign. Who cares what’s on the sign! Why are all the gun grabbers so sensitive?
I’m pro-gun and pro 2A and would not get offended if that sign had an anti-gun message.
Please! Can we please worry about more important issues. Our great country is being torn apart and your worried about a AR-15 on a sign. Its not even automatic.
Worry about starving children, unemployment…
The CeaseFire statement is an inadvertent admission of guilt, indicated by the irresistible psychological impulse to protest too much. They take a positive statement and turn it on its head, illogically and psychotically transmuting it into a negative attack on them, personally. This is an act spurred by mens rea.
Planned Parenthood shouldn’t have any billboards, the M16/M4/AR-15 platform is most definitely as American as baseball. Just as it CeaseFirePa members decision to think for themselves what’s American that is the right of everyone, not just them. Lamar advertising has that same right to operate their business and accept revenue from who they see fit not what CeaseFirePa members think. I would think if they had given enough money to buy the billboard then go for it. Until then they are running a business. And for the record the guns that are committing the violence in Harrisburg aren’t the modern sporting rifles like the AR-15. The vast majority are stolen and illegal handguns. They are targeting legal gun owners for their agenda not the true problem with the urban crime. That’s why have a permit and I carry a concealed firearm in Pennsylvania. More gun laws aren’t going to defend me and my family. They will make it easier for the gun toting, drug dealing, gang banging thugs that have no respect for any law.
I hate it when these issues are used to define and divide republicans and democrats. How about we keep our guns, you have your abortions and we will all smoke some legalized weed. Let’s stay out of each other’s business and just live our lives. We can all agree on freedom…no?
Gee, by their logic, we should ban McDonald’s billboards too. Obesity is killing way more people than guns, and I’m offended that I have to look at those golden arches while I’m driving and see their not-yet-deceased victims rolling around Wal Mart on rascal scooters.
Maybe you can tell us how Obama’s Gitmo camps and NSA wiretaps are respectful of the 4th amendment.
Also, I never said Leftist or Liberal I simply stated anti-gunners. Learn to read the statement completely.
The AR-15 is an American design
@NEWLIBERAL_LION
I’ll take that over the North Korea style dictatorship you want.
You are mistaken Sean Ryan, there are a number amendments that are a problem with right wingers including the 4th, 10th,15th, 17th and if we really believe those strict constructionists who want to go back to the founding fathers, the 19th amendment.
Actually Somalia has several governments as it is in the midst of a civil war.
Anyone with a brain and google can see the stupidity in that statement.
But to what I came here to say:”apparently the 2nd amendment isn’t the only civil right anti-gunners don’t like.”
@Joe Hey Joe…Want less government? Move to Somalia! 🙂
It’s so true, it is “Pure American” to take a gun and shoot up a shopping mall, restaurant, school, movie theater, etc.
I thought Reagan ended the Cold War, but I guess not in the small minds of individuals who need a boogie man.
Speaking of satire – I think Poe’s Law may be in effect with Joe. I love the Cold War dog whistles with which he liberally peppers his comments. I suppose we should get in on the fun – Reagan was a California liberal tax-promoting spendthrift! Let’s force Christianity on children in public schools or else the godless, long-haired, pinko, hippie, Ruskies win! Public highways? What is this – Soviet Russia?! Privatize and toll every single one of them – capitalism!!11!
Is this really a pro-gun billboard? It looks like satire to me.
That machine gun, an item created solely with the intention of killing people, is about as American as cancer. And about as “Christian” as, well, pie.
I’m about as left a liberal can be, but seriously, CeaseFire needs to understand their time and energy could be spent on a real issue. This is exactly what the billboard was intended to do. Don’t fall for it
That door works both ways. While Cease Fire wants to say it speaks for all citizens, it doesn’t. I have no problem with a billboard that portrays guns. I am tired of the politically correct crowd, the liberals and/or progressives ‘deciding’ what is and isn’t acceptable. On, and you got it wrong in your very first statement in this article. That’s not an assault rifle.
did anyone notice the Jesus fish at the bottom of the billboard-is that what Jesus would have wanted?? Some of these right wingers really need to go back to read the Bible and see what Jesus really stands for, not their bigoted racist homophobic stand-your-ground vigilantism.
CeaseFirePA is just another Khmer Rouge style posse for the civilian disarmament movement. If it were a buillboard about the “pivotal experiment” of Soviet Communism as talked about during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, they would be hailing it, considering that “pivotal experiment” had what they would define as “common sense” gun “safety” laws. I know they’re licking their chops for the PA 2014 gubernatorial elections like every other commiecrat pig, because no matter who the commiecrat nominee is, they’ll be a Bloomberg bitch. For any disgruntled republicans, conservatives, independents, and blue dogs out there, don’t give any of the commiecrat gubernatorial nominees ANY coattails, and at least keep the state legislature out of their favor. Having that Maoist witch, Kathy Kane and another
bloomberg lapdog like Wolf, McCord, Schwartz, or McGinty is already a nightmare enough like that in NJSSR, CASSR, or NYSSR.
“The whole point of our great country is that we define that for ourselves!”
A little bit of introspection would have revealed the irony of that statement to Cease Fire PA.